Lost and found
by amanda1979
Summary: With Sam finally out of Bobby's basement, he goes on the road with Dean but before they can figure out their next move they come across a girl who may be able to help them.
1. Chapter 1

"What do we do now Sammy?" Dean asked as he they drove thru the night, not exactly sure of where they were heading just so long as they were heading somewhere.

"Sammy?" Dean questioned when his brother didn't reply

"Sorry, what?" Sam forced himself to pay attention.

"I said what do we do now?"

"I don't know Dean, I wish I did"

"Ok I'll say it" Dean ventured after a few more minutes of silence "It wasn't your fault you fell off the wagon Sammy. It was famine and you did the right thing by telling me"

"It didn't help though did it? We playing right into famines hands"

"We weren't to…holy crap!" Dean swerved just in time narrowly missed the girl crouched in the middle of the road.

The two of them pulled up and leapt out of the car.

"What the hell?" Dean demanded

"I think she's hurt" Sam reasoned "Hey are you ok?"

"Careful Sam it might a trick"

Sam continued to walk towards the girl ignoring his brothers warning "Hey its ok we're here to help, what happened?"

He knelt down beside the girl who looked to be in her late teens or early twenties as she held her legs closer to her body and looked up at Sam. Her long black hair clung to her bloodied arms and her piercing green eyes were consumed with fear.

"I don't want to go back" She cried "I don't want to do it, I want to be good, I want to good" she wept

"Hey it's ok" Sam reached out for her hand "We won't hurt you, can you tell us your name?"

She thought for a few seconds "I don't know" then a look of panic washed over her face as she gasped "but I know this, the world is coming to an end and we're all going to die"

Dean stepped forward to ask what she meant but the girl's body began to shake and eyes rolled back.

"She's having a seizure; we have to get her to a hospital Dean"

* * *

"Cas! Get your angelic ass here right now" Dean snapped from beside the girl's hospital bed.

He and Sam had been here for over four hours now. The first two hours had been filled with her screams. After the nurses had cleaned up her physical wounds she had literally screamed and wept herself to exhaustion before falling into a restless sleep.

Dean heard a familiar sound behind them "about time Cas" he muttered but his complaint was ignored as Cas nudged the brothers aside and took hold of the girl's hand.

"Thank goodness, it's really her, I can't believe it" his voice was full of emotion which was unusual for Cas but more unusual than that was the single tear that ran down his cheek

"Is this a friend of yours Cas?" Sam asked unable to hide the confusion on his face.

"I thought she was dead, four of my brothers died looking for her, the last I heard Lucifer had her but nobody could get to her"

"So this is good news, she's alive and obviously Lucifer doesn't have her but do you mind telling us who she is?" Dean questioned.

"My apologies" Cas finally turned his attention to Sam and dean "This is my sister"

"Your sister" Dean repeated "I don't suppose you know what she was doing in the middle of the road"

"I don't know, Maybe Lucifer let her go, or she escaped somehow" Cas guessed.

"Cas when you say Lucifer had her, does that mean she was in hell?"

"That's a strong possibility" Cas

"So if Lucifer let her go he wants to use her against us and if she escaped how did she mange it?" Dean stepped forward and lifted one of her bandaged hands and been to unravel the bandages.

"What are you doing?" Cas began to object

"Look" realised where Dean was going with this "half the skin from her hand is gone like it was scrapped away and her fingernails are gone"

Cas caught on "you mean to say she clawed her way out of hell"

"I don't think they let her go Cas" Dean rested his hand on his friends shoulder as another teardrop fell down his cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean broke the ten minute silence that followed "So she's your sister" he repeated.

"Yes Dean" Cas replied impatiently.

"Sorry, but doesn't that made her an angel too?"

"Her Grace has gone, mostly likely Lucifer took it"

"Why?" Sam asked "what use is it to him?"

He can't do anything with it himself, but while he has it Miranda is powerless. What did she tell you?"

"She didn't even know her name" Sam answered

"It's Miranda"

"Yeah we get that Cas" Dean said "so how do we get her Grace back?"

Cas looked surprised

"Its important right, so we need to get it back, just point us in the right direction Cas" Dean offered.

"It's impossible Dean" Sam responded "we would never get close enough to Lucifer to take Miranda's grace back even if we knew where he's hidden it"

"Sam's right Dean" Cas looked down trodden "it's too dangerous"

"We've got to try Cas" Dean wasn't sure why he was letting this girl get under his skin so much "She's broken Cas and I'm guessing getting her grace back is going to help fix her"

"Are we still talking about Miranda" Cas knew Dean better than he knew himself sometimes

"Who else would we talking about?" Dean snapped before he left he room.

"Sorry" Sam felt the need to apologise for his older brother "Famine really got to him"

"How are you doing?" Cas looked concerned

"Like I spent two weeks chained up in Bobby's basement"

"Sorry about that" Cas looked regretful

"You were doing what you had to" Sam excused him.

"Still I'm sorry it ever came to that Sam"

"Right now we have other issues to deal with" Sam tried to push the last two weeks from his mind.

"Yes you need to stop Dean from doing something that will get him killed"

"I don't mean that" Sam explained "I mean we need to come up with some kind of plan to help Miranda. Dean's right about one thing, she is broken and I'm guessing if Lucifer went to the trouble of capturing her and taking her grace then she had the power to defeat or at least hurt him in some way"

"She was meant to play a big part in defeating Lucifer" Cas admitted "but after she was captured and nobody could find her, Michael made other plans"

"Are you saying that if we could get her grace back, that we'd have a shot at defeating Lucifer without Dean having to be Michael's vessel"

"No I'm saying there's no way of getting her grace back" Cas looked earnestly at Sam "She's my sister and we were close. I'd give anything for her to be the way she was. It hurts me to see her this way"

"I understand Cas"

"I know you do, so you'll understand that I can't put her through anything else. I have to protect her"

"It might be too late for that Cas" Sam said quickly as two black eyed figure appeared in the room beside Miranda's bed

"Get away from my sister" Anger washed over his face as Castiel charged towards the demons with no thought for himself.

He already knew he would be too late as the demons had hold of Miranda and bought down the dagger to her chest.


	3. Chapter 3

Castiel thought he had lost Miranda again but suddenly her eyes flew open and she caught the blade between her bandaged hands giving Castiel valuable seconds to drag the male demon away from her while Sam tackled the female demon.

Castiel knew he could probably defeat the male and Sam could hold his own against the female but he also knew that if anything went wrong Miranda would be unprotected and Sam might not be strong enough to resist the demon blood.

He couldn't take any chances. Castiel punched the demon sending him flying across the room, then reached for Sam and Miranda.

Second later they three of them were standing outside the hospital

Miranda almost fell, as she was unused to travelling by that method but Cas held onto her and held her upright while her head stopped spinning.

For the first time in a long time she looked up at Castiel and a look of recognition washed over her face.

"Castiel" she gasped

"I'm here" he reassured her "how much do you remember?"

"Too much" she replied as her tears began to fall uncontrollably.

"Dean" Sam called as he saw Dean walking towards them.

"What's going on Cas? I went back in there and it looked like they'd been a fight and you were all gone"

"We were attacked by demons" Cas explained.

"We need to get away from here" Sam insisted.

"What's up with her?" Dean pointed at Miranda.

"She remembers" Sam

"Remembers what?"

"Everything" Miranda "I remember everything"

"Jeez" Didn't really sum it up for Dean as he helped Cas get Miranda to her feet. He could imagine what must be going thru her head right now because he had been to hell himself.

* * *

Half an hour later the four of them were in motel. Sam and Dean were busy on their laptops trying to find any information that would help them. Miranda lay on one of the beds while Cas sat on the chair beside her. Her sobbing had decreased enough to make a little more sense of what she was saying now.

"I'm sorry I have to ask you these questions" Castiel looked regretful "were you trapped in hell the whole time?"

"Yes, everyday Lucifer or one of his demons would torture me for information"

What did they want to know?"

"About the other angels and God"

"You were gone six earth months, that's over 60 years in hell years, it's understandable if you told them anything. It's a lot of torture to put up with but I just need to know what you told them" Cas gently stroked her hair back in an attempt to reassure her it was ok.

"Nothing" Miranda looked at him defiantly "The torture was unbearable Cas I wanted it to stop but I didn't tell them anything"

"Ssh" it's ok now" Cas regretted having to ask her but it had been necessary "Try and sleep now, I'll be here if you need anything" he spoke gently.

"What's the story?" Dean asked when Cas walked over towards him.

"She's been stuck in hell for the past six months"

"Earth time or hell time?"

"Earth"

"Crap, so what's the damage?"

"She' didn't tell them anything, she's stronger than I gave her credit for" Cas admitted

"Can you be sure she's telling the truth about that?" Sam questioned

"If Miranda says she didn't tell Lucifer or his demons anything then she didn't tell them anything. She's never been a liar"

Normally your word would be enough for me" Dean reasoned as he stood up to stretch his legs "but she's been in hell for a long time and that changes you"

Castiel walked towards Dean and stopped right in front of him, close enough for Dean to feel the Angels breath on his face.

"You're going to have to take my word for it. I know Miranda and I know she's not lying, the only changes she's experienced are the loss of her grace and the mental and physical scars that those bastards gave her hell" Is that enough change for you Dean?"

"Sorry I didn't mean…" Dean began. Cas didn't curse often so it was a sign he was either really serious, or pissed off but probably both.

Either way there was no time to dwell as Miranda's scream filled the room.

Cas was by her side immediately "It's ok it's just a dream" he gently shook her awake.

"I thought it was real" she gasped "I thought I was back in hell, Please Cas don't let them take me back" She begged clutching onto his hand. "They took something from me"

"I know but we're going to get it back"

"We are?" Sam asked "but at the hospital you said…"

"I can't bear it" he admitted "seeing her in so much pain"

This girl bought a lot of emotion out in Cas, Dean realised "So what's the plan?"

"I don't have one" Cas admitted but I need to go somewhere, I can't take Miranda, it's too dangerous, and I can't leave her" he looked torn

"It's OK Cas if it helps Miranda, you should go. We'll stay here with her.

"Don't I get a say in any of this?"

"No!!" Cas, Dean and Sam said at once


	4. Chapter 4

"Cas has been gone a while" Dean commented the next morning "but at least Miranda slept thru most of the night. Do you think she'll be ok?"

"What is it with you and angels Dean? I've seen the way you look at her"

Dean fought the urge to retort "What is it with you and Demons Sammy?" instead he replied "technically she's not an angel, not anymore"

"Well technically Cas is going to kick your sorry ass if you get it on with his sister"

"It's not like that" Deans said defensively "Do you think he would really? Kick my ass my I mean"

"Hell yeah" Sam answered

Cas appeared in the room "Did you need me? I was just in the middle of extracting information from a low level demon"

"How's that working out?" Dean asked

"Not good, I don't think he knows anything" Cas admitted defeat.

"We were just wondering what was holding you up" Dean answered his original question

"How is she?" Cas glanced towards Miranda

"Better than can be expected considering, She slept thru the night, mostly" Sam filled him in.

"Good" Cas went to sit on the chair beside Miranda's Bed as she began to wake up

"Hey" he greeted her "how are you feeling?"

"A little better" Miranda Strained to sit up and Cas propped some pillows up behind her "Give me half an hour"

"For what?" Cas looked confused

"To get ready and find some food, then I'm up for a game of find Miranda's grace"

Cas wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry "you're not going anywhere" he shook his head

"Like hell" Miranda "it's my grace. I know I can't stop any of you helping me if that's what you want but I won't lie here in this cheap motel room while you risk yourselves for me"

Cas wanted to argue knew it was pointless "I'll give an hour" he relented and vanished.

"I'd better get dressed" Miranda said.

"We'll be right outside" Sam headed for the door but Dean stayed where he was.

"DEAN!" Sam insisted.

"Spoilsport" he grumbled following his brother outside, looking back over his shoulder with a cheeky smile. He couldn't be sure if he had imagined it or of she had smiled back.

* * *

"Cas should be here in ten minute" Dean said as Miranda finished off her breakfast at a nearby diner. They got up to pay the bill, and then waited outside.

"Where's Sam?" Miranda asked.

"Probably powdering his nose? Dean quipped "Are you sure you want to do this?

"I'm sure Dean" she walked towards him

"I take this is an angel thing with the lack of awareness of personal space" Dean tried to lighten the mood but secretly he was enjoying how close Miranda was stood to him

"No this is me wondering if you're ever going to kiss me kind of thing" She held his gaze and Dean couldn't fight it anymore. He pulled Miranda even closer towards him and kissed like it was the last time he might ever kiss anyone. Well what the hell, he thought it might just be. If Cas didn't kill him for this Lucifer might kill him just for fun anyway.

"Oh crap" he pulled away

"What?" She turned to see Cas stood behind her "Oh Crap" she echoed


	5. Chapter 5

Dean realised Cas didn't look angry at all, he looked scared, then he followed his gaze to see what it was that had his angel friend so afraid.

"Sammy what's up?" But Dean already knew the awful truth

"That's not your brother" Cas warned "not anymore, he said yes to Lucifer".

"Oh Sam! Why? God damn it" Dean muttered.

"Hello Dean" Lucifer said"

"We need to get out of here NOW!!" Panic washed over Miranda

"Oh there you are my lost angel" Lucifer smiled

"You stay away from her" Castiel stood in front of his sister.

Dean stepped forward knowing this was a fight they could never win. He had expected to feel some kind of relieve that the end had come but he suddenly realised this was never how he had wanted it to end. He felt sick with dread as he decided the only thing left to do was go out fighting.

Cas seemed to read Deans mind as he handed Dean and Miranda a blade each.

"Good luck"

As the three of them charged towards Lucifer, time seemed to slow down for Dean before it stopped completely.

"This is your last chance" Dean wasn't at all surprised to find Zachariah stood behind him "Say yes to Michael"

Deans fought the urge to tell the angel to go to hell. He glanced what used to be his brother and at Cas and Miranda frozen mid run towards Lucifer and most likely to their deaths.

"Oh crap, what the hell" he relented.

"Is that a yes?" Zachariah already knew but he needed to hear it.

"Yes it's a god damn yes, I'll be Michael's vessel, now just get it over with.

A blinding light overcame Dean and he fell to the floor overcome by pain. He felt his body been invaded my Michael until all that was left of him felt so small in comparison.

Time unfroze and Castiel looked at Dean/Michael in confusion "Dean?"

"No"

"Michael?"

"Yes"

"Hello Brother" Lucifer was quick to work out what had just happened.

Miranda was the last to figure it out "Castiel what's wrong with Dean?"

"He said yes"

"Why would he do that?"

"Because we're all about to die" Castiel replied gravely.

Michael threw his hand out and Lucifer was sent flying into a hotdog stand, this only took him out of action for less than a minute and he was soon standing unfazed in front of Michael.

"Is that any way to greet a long lost brother. Don't they teach you manners in heaven?" Lucifer taunted as he flung Michael like a rag doll towards the diner where he crashed thru the glass door, sending shocked diners running out into the street.

Michael didn't recover as quickly and Lucifer casually picked off some the diners whiles he waited for Michael to get back up.

A young mother and her two infant daughters huddled in a shop doorway. Lucifer raised his hands and laughed as buildings began to shake around them.

"STOP THIS NOW" Michael commanded in a loud voice, picking up a truck and hurling it towards Lucifer.

Until then Miranda had almost felt like she watching some horrible nightmare that wasn't really happening. It was only when Lucifer batted the truck away like it was a toy and sent it flying towards Miranda that it began to feel more real.

Before she had chance to react, Castiel had teleported to her and pushed her out of the way. As he tried to teleport himself out of the way he was a fraction of a second too slow and he was sent flying down the street before collapsing into a half crumpled building

Castiel" Miranda Shrieked running towards him, falling to the floor beside him.

"What did you do that for?" she tried to sound angry.

"You were going to be hit by a truck" he stated the obvious

"Rather me than you" she sobbed.

"Don't talk like that"

"Well some use I am, Sam and Dean are going to kill each other, and you're dying, oh and it's the end of the world"

"It's not Sam and Dean anymore, I'm not dying just yet" he argued "I need to get you out of here"

"No you're too weak to teleport, it could kill you" Miranda shook her head

Cas ignored her warning and teleported them away from the scene of destruction.

"Where are we?" Miranda looked around at the field they were in.

"I don't know" Cas admitted.

"Oh Cas" Miranda looked down at her brother

"It's not that bad"

"You always were a bad liar" She tried to smile and then she vanished.

"Miranda" Cas called out as he slipped out of consciousness


	6. Chapter 6

Castiel wasn't sure how much time had passed but when he opened his eyes again Miranda was knelt beside him.

"Where did you go?" he asked beginning to wondering of he had imagined it.

"I was called heaven"

Castiel looked at Miranda "You got your grace back" he realised "how?"

"Father said I'd need it to put things right, but I got back and..." she bit her lip to stop the tears, telling herself that big Angels don't cry.

"What?" Cas asked

"I was too late"

"Michael and Lucifer?"

"Dead, they killed each other"

"So Dean and Sam, they're..."

"Dead, there bodies are…beyond repair" Miranda finished his sentence "along with about 50 innocent bystanders"

"But it's over" Castiel stated

"I guess" Miranda "but it feels like we lost"

Castiel tried to speak but winced in pain

"I could heal you" Miranda offered then she looked like she'd had a better idea.

"What?"

"I could do better than that" she realised.

"I could take go back, to before this all happened"

"Assuming you could change things, then none of this would have happened" Castiel argued.

"That's kind of the point"

"You'll be back in hell, been tortured"

"But you Sam, Dean and all the other people who got in Lucifer's way today will be alive, for now at least"

"Why would you do that?" it was Castiels turn to ask

"I can't let it end like this" Were Miranda's last words to Castiel before she teleported herself back to the day se had escaped from hell.

Miranda found herself back in hell without her grace as none of the past few days had happened, not anymore. The moment where her chains had become loose repeated itself but Miranda stayed where she was this time. She wasn't sure how long had passed before one of the demons noticed.

"Hey look" a male demon said to another demon "Her chains are loose and she didn't even try to escape"

The other Demon laughed" Stupid angel bitch, maybe she has it too good here that she doesn't want to leave"

"Well we'll have to change that" the first demon responded as he began stripping off chunks off Miranda's skin with his knife

Miranda screamed out in pain

"Sorry, what?" Sam asked

"I said what we do now" Dean repeated

"I don't know I wish I did"

"Ok I'll say it. It wasn't your fault you fell off the wagon Sammy. It was famine and you did the right thing by telling me"

"It didn't help though did it? We playing right into famines hands"

"We weren't know that" Dean reasoned

Sam shuddered and looked out the window at the stretch of road they had just driven past.

"What?" I know that look. Did you just see something" Dean Questioned

"No, no it's nothing" Sam shook his head "It was just a weird feeling, like something was meant to happen but it didn't"

Castiel stood alone in a field as the tears fell for the loss of his sister and the sacrifice she had made to postpone what would probably still happen eventually. It almost felt like a waste. As the minutes turned to hours his memories of the past few days began to vanish until they were gone. Cas was left wondering why this wet salty substance was running down his face.


End file.
